Process Instructions (time required: 1 to 2 hours over 2 day period):
This assignment requires two final storyboards. First you’ll analyze existing comics. Then, you create your own and analyze it.
HINT: Before creating your storyboards, use your sketchbook to work out your story using thumbnails. In your preliminary sketches, you can draw alternate frames and use text. Keeping these iterations visually close can help you remember what narrative choices are available for your final iteration. When you make your final sketch, remember to use your knowledge of visual perception to make things legible, draw the eye to help the reader follow the cognitive thread.
For Storyboard #1:
- View comics from Nancy (click “random”) or play Nancy solitaire (click the cards at the bottom to create your own deck).
- Choose two comic strips that have more than 3 frames. Copy the links to those comics for mention in your blog post.
- In the comics you chose, look at each of the frames and identify the narrative transitions used to tell the story.
For Storyboard #2:
- Now that you’ve seen some example comics and transitions, think up your own comic using 4-6 frames. Unlike the Nancy comics, please avoid using text. We are exploring how images create narrative… and how transitions move the story along. Of course, if you must use text sparingly.
- Sketch out your comic in your sketchbook using thumbnails.
- Look at your frames and analyze: What kind of transition should you use to help tell the story? Experiment with different transitions by altering what is viewed to evoke various types of closure. For example, try framing only a portion of the scene, altering the frame size, or changing the timing by adding or removing frames. You nay find it helpful to draw a few alternate frames in your strip. Show it to people and see which ones are most effective. Label each transition used on the image.
- Then work out a larger, final iteration in darker lines than your draft. I expect your final version to be clean and neatly done. We have moved into visual communication — so now we have an audience. Imagine that your work will be shown in a publication.
- Post an image of your personal comic strip in your blog – both the iteration(s) and the final for your comic strip.
In your 250+ word reflection, write about what you learned from this assignment and what connections you see to what McCloud is talking about. Of the transitions you used, tell us “why.” Make sure you describe the transitions in Nancy and link to their references. Compare your transitions with the ones from Nancy. Include in your essay an answer to the question: How did the transition choices in all 3 comics affect the audience’s perception of drama, timing, and emotion?
Fill out this checklist after you have completed your assignment and posted it in your Portfolio Blog. Note, if you don’t check all the items in the checklist, your submission will not be completed.